Samsung's Galaxy A9 Pro bumps the mid-range specs - and may have a removable battery

Home / News / Samsung’s Galaxy A9 Pro bumps the mid-range specs – and may have a removable battery

So much for making fewer phones, eh Samsung? As our newly posted reviews show, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are about to release, but the company certainly isn’t stopping with those headline offerings.

Back in December, Samsung showed off the Galaxy A9, a pocket-busting 6in phone with a collection of upper mid-range included. The standard A9 has a 1080p Super AMOLED panel (at 367ppi), a 1.8Ghz Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor, 3GB RAM, a microSD port, and a 13-megapixel back camera with a 8MP selfie shooter on the front.

And now Samsung apparently plans to one-up the standard Galaxy A9 with the incoming Galaxy A9 Pro, which makes some potentially notable tweaks to the familiar design. Based on certification leaks from China’s TENAA agency and the United Stated Federal Communications Commission, much remains the same: the screen size, shape, and processor, in particular, although it appears to be slightly thicker and heavier.

But there are real enhancements: the Galaxy A9 Pro apparently has 4GB RAM instead, plus it launches with Android Marshmallow out of the gate, whereas the standard A9 is still rocking the TouchWiz-skinned version of Lollipop. The A9 Pro also looks to have a 16-megapixel back camera – perhaps the same as the Galaxy S6? – with an 8-megapixel shooter on the front.

And as the FCC listing suggests, it may also offer a removable backing plate for swapping out your battery, which Samsung has moved away from since the Galaxy S6. If true, it would give this quite large phablet some serious perks over the standard rendition, although the glossy-looking backing in the TENAA photos makes this particular point a bit questionable at present.

We’ll find out for sure whenever Samsung officially announces the handset, and given the FCC certification, the Galaxy A9 Pro may well be available outside of Asia. Based on what we’re seeing, it could be a solidly powerful, albeit less premium phablet for anyone who doesn’t want to shell out for a Galaxy Note 5. We should see official word pretty soon, given the certifications.

[Sources: PhoneArena, GSM Arena]

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Andrew writes features, news stories, reviews, and other pieces, often when the UK home team is off-duty or asleep. I'm based in Chicago with my lovely wife, amazing son, and silly cats, and my writing about games, gadgets, esports, apps, and plenty more has appeared in more than 75 publications since 2006.